UC-NRLF 


$B    Eb4    bQ2 


LC 

M/4 


1. 


A  PLAN 


FOR 


I  nprov  ng  Female  !iducation 


By  Emma  Willard 


A  Reprint  of  the  Second  Edition  of  1819 


'My  neighbrtrhood  to  Middlebury  College  made  me  bitterly 
feel  the  disparity  in  educational  facilities  between  the  sexes/' 

From  a  letter  of  Mrs.  Willard 


I'ublii.  hcd  by  Middlebury  College  on  the 
rcoi'i  .'  n  11  ive  rsa  ry  of  the  issue 
f'.-e  ilrxf  edition 


vr::^ 


Middlebury,  Vermont 
1918 


GIFT  OF 


Explanatory  Note 


Timely  interest  in  the  enclosed  pamphlet  written  by  Emma  Wil- 
lard,  pioneer  in  the  education  of  women  at  Middlebury,  Vermont,  over 
100  years  ago,  is  given  by  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Russell  Sage,  who  was  a 
great  admirer  of  the  work  of  Mrs.  Willard,  has  just  left  to  Middlebury 
College  the  sum  of  $100,000. 

The  Middlebury  Register  in  its  issue  of  November  22,  1918,  con- 
tains the  following  interesting  statement  by  Dr.  Ezra  Brainerd,  presi- 
dent-emeritus of  the  College,  indicating  how  Mrs.  Sage  became  inter- 
ested in  Middlebury: 

"About  thirty  years  ago  I  received  an  invitation  to  give  a  talk  on 
the  life  and  work  of  Emma  Willard  during  the  twelve  years  she  lived 
in  Middlebury  when  from  20  to  32  years  of  age.  This  talk  was  to  be 
given  before  the  Emma  Willard  Association  in  New  York  City,  at  the 
home  on  Fifth  Avenue  of  Mrs.  Russell  Sage,  who  was  the  President  of 
the  Association.  I  met  there  an  interesting  company  who  held  in  high 
esteem  the  mature  matron  under  whose  guidance  they  had  graduated 
from  the  famous  Ladies  Seminary  in  Troy.  It  was  not  difficult  to  in- 
terest them  in  an  account  of  Emma  Willard's  early  life  and  of  her  con- 
fessed indebtedness  to  Middlebury  College  for  her  advanced  views  re- 
garding the  higher  education  of  women.  I  succeeded  in  securing  $2000 
for  an  Emma  Willard  scholarship  in  Middlebury  College.  The  fol- 
lowing year  came  an  invitation  to  address  them  again,  and  to  publish 
a  pamphlet  containing  the  substance  of  my  talks.  This  was  done  at 
the  expense  of  a  New  York  lawyer,  a  former  pupil  of  mine,  whose 
mother  in  Vermont  was  a  graduate  of  the  Troy  Seminary.  The  pam- 
phlet passed  through  two  editions  of  500  copies  each,  most  of  which 
were  placed  in  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Sage  for  distribution  to  the  graduates 
of  the  Troy  Seminary. 

"This  pamphlet  was  later  republished  by  the  United  States  Bu- 
reau of  Education,  Circular  of  Information  No.  4,  1900;  wholenumber 
265.  On  page  130,  under  the  headline  of  the  article,  the  reader  is  in- 
formed that  it  was  ^prepared  originally  for  the  Emma  Willard  Society 
of  New  York  by  Ezra  Brainerd,  LL.  D.,  President  of  Middlebury  Col- 
lege.' 

"Thus  it  would  appear  probable  that  the  100,000  dollar  bequest  is 
the  fair  fruitage  of  the  humble  seed  sown  in  faith  so  many  years  ago.'' 


The  following  pages  reproduce  without  change  a  docu- 
ment which  has  been  called  the  Magna  Carta  of  the 
higher  education  of  women  in  America,  It  was  written 
during  the  two  or  three  years  preceding  iSig  in  Middle- 
bury,  in  a  house  Just  across  the  street  from  the  campus 
of  Middlebury  College.  Some  years  earlier  Mrs, 
Willard  had  conducted  in  Middlebury  a  school  for  young 
women  not  essentially  different  from  the  boarding  schools 
she  condemns  so  vigorously.  It  was  in  contact  with  the 
worthier  education  offered  to  young  men  in  the  college 
that  she  developed  her  conviction  of  the  need  of  radical 
change  in  the  educatiofi  of  women  and  the  principles 
she  put  in  force  in  her  seco7id  school  in  Middlebury,^ 
which  was  later  removed  to  Troy. 

The  world  war  and  its  attendant  changes  in  the  po- 
sition and  occupations  of  women  is  leading  to  a  re-ex- 
amination of  the  purposes  and  methods  of  women^s  edu- 
cation. This  notable  address  of  one  of  the  great  pioneers 
in  the  higher  education  of  women  in  America  is  re-pub- 
lished, not  m,erely  as  a  bit  of  antiquaria^i  zeal  on  the 
part  of  the  college  which  furnished  stimulus  and  sug- 
gestion to  its  author,  but  also  as  a  statement  of  prijtciples 
and  ideals  which  ought  not  to  be  neglected  in  the  effort 
to  adapt  the  higher  education  of  women  to  the  larger 
place  in  the  life  of  the  world  which  they  are  henceforth 
to  occupy. 


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http://www.archive.org/details/addresstopublicpOOwillrich 


Ak 


TO  THE  PUBLIC; 

riRTlCVLABLT 
TO  THE  MEMBfittS  OP  THE 

LEGISLATURE 

or 
NEW-YORK, 

PR0P08IKG 
POB  IMPROVIN& 

FEMALE  EDUCATION,  cs 

BY  EMMA  WILLARIX  1  -  %  x^  ^1 1 


SSC09D  XDITIOn* 


MIDDLEBURT: 

PEUrTBO  BY  9.  W.  COPBIAITIH 
1819. 


^^ 


w 


ADDRESS,  &C. 

HE  object  of  this  Address,  is  to  convince  the 
public,  that  a  reform,  with  respect  to  female 
education,  is  necessary;  that  it  cannot  be 
effected  by  individual  exertion,  but  that  it 
requires  the'aid"  of  the  legislature;  and  further,  by 
shewing  the  justice,  the  policy,  and  the  magnanimity 
of  such  an  undertaking,  to  persuade  that  body  to  en- 
dow a  seminary  for  females,  as  the  commencement  of 
such  reformation. 

The  idea  of  a  college  for  males  will  naturally  be 
associated  with  that  of  a  seminary,  instituted  and  en- 
dowed by  the  public;  and  the  absurdity  of  sending 
ladies  to  college,  may,  at  first  thought,  strike  every  one 
to  whom  this  subject  shall  be  proposed.  I  therefore 
hasten  to  observe,  that  the  seminary  here  recommend- 
ed, will  be  as  different  from  those  appropriated  to  the 
other  sex,  as  the  female  character  and  duties  are  from 
the  male.  The  business  of  the  husbandman  is  not  to 
waste  his  endeavours,  in  seeking  to  make  his  orchard 
attain  the  strength  and  majesty  of  his  forest,  but  to 
rear  each,  to  the  perfection  of  its  nature. 

That  the  improvement  of  female  education  will  be 
considered  by  our  enlightened  citizens  as  a  subject  of 
importance,  the  liberality  v/ith  which  they  part  with 
their  property  to  educate  their  daughters,  is  a  sufficient 
evidence;  and  v/hy  should  they  not,  when  assembled 
in  the  legislature,  act  in  concert  to  effect  a  noble  object, 
which,  though  dear  to  them  individually,  cannot  be 
accomplished  by  their  unconnected  exertions. 

If  the  improvement  of  the  American  female  charac- 
ter, and  that  alone,  could  be  effected  by  public  liber- 
ality, employed  in  giving  better  means  of  instruction ; 

5 


^R7'7^9. 


.  ?uchin\j)t6,y6mentof  6ne  half  of  society,  and  that  half, 
which  barbarous*  arid' despotic  nations  have  ever  de- 
graded, would  of  itself  be  an  object,  worthy  of  the  most 
liberal  government  on  earth ;  but  if  the  female  character 
be  raised,  it  must  inevitably  raise  that  of  the  other  sex : 
and  thus  does  the  plan  proposed,  offer,  as  the  object  of 
legislative  bounty,  to  elevate  the  whole  character  of  the 
community. 

As  evidence  that  this  statement  does  not  exaggerate 
the  female  influence  in  society,  our  sex  need  but  be  con- 
sidered, in  the  single  relation  of  mothers.  In  this  char- 
acter, we  have  the  charge  of  the  whole  mass  of  indi- 
viduals, who  are  to  compose  the  succeeding  generation ; 
during  that  period  of  youth,  when  the  pliant  mind  takes 
any  direction,  to  which  it  is  steadily  guided  by  a  form- 
ing hand.  How  important  a  power  is  given  by  this 
charge !  yet,  little  do  too  many  of  my  sex  know  how, 
either  to  appreciate  or  improve  it.  Unprovided  with 
the  means  of  acquiring  that  knowledge,  which  flows 
liberally  to  the  other  sex — having  our  time  of  education 
devoted  to  frivolous  acquirements,  how  should  we 
understand  the  nature  of  the  mind,  so  as  to  be  aware 
of  the  importance  of  those  early  impressions,  which  we 
make  upon  the  minds  of  our  children? — or  how  should 
we  be  able  to  form  enlarged  and  correct  views,  either 
of  the  character,  to  which  we  ought  to  mould  them,  or 
of  the  means  most  proper  to  form  them  aright? 

Considered  in  this  point  of  view,  were  the  interests 
of  male  education  alone  to  be  consulted,  that  of  females 
becomes  of  sufficient  importance  to  engage  the  public 
attention.  Would  we  rear  the  human  plant  to  its  per- 
fection, we  must  first  fertilize  the  soil  which  produces 
it.  If  it  acquire  its  first  bent  and  texture  upon  a  barren 
plain,  it  will  avail  comparatively  little,  should  it  be 
afterwards  transplanted  to  a  garden. 

6 


In  the  arrangement  of  my  remarks,  I  shall  pursue  the 
following  order. 

I.  Treat  of  the  defects  of  the  present  mode  of  female 
education,  and  their  causes. 

II.  Consider  the  principles,  by  which  education 
should  be  regulated. 

III.  Sketch  a  plan  of  a  female  seminary. 

IV.  Shew  the  benefits  which  society  would  receive 
from  such  seminaries. 

DEFECTS  IN  THE  PRESENT  MODE  OF 

FEMALE  EDUCATION,  AND 

THEIR  CAUSES. 

Civilized  nations  have  long  since  been  convinced  that 
education,  as  it  respects  males,  will  not,  like  trade,  reg- 
ulate itself;  and  hence,  they  have  made  it  a  prime  object 
to  provide  that  sex  with  everything  requisite  to  facili- 
tate their  progress  in  learning:  but  female  education 
has  been  left  to  the  mercy  of  private  adventurers ;  and 
the  consequence  has  been  to  our  sex,  the  same,  as  it 
would  have  been  to  the  other,  had  legislatures  left  their 
accommodations,  and  means  of  instruction,  to  chance 
also. 

Education  cannot  prosper  in  any  community,  unless, 
from  the  ordinary  motives  which  actuate  the  human 
mind,  the  best  and  most  cultivated  talents  of  that  com- 
munity, can  be  brought  into  exercise  in  that  way.  Male 
education  flourishes,  because,  from  the  guardian  care  of 
legislatures,  the  presidencies  and  professorships  of  our 
colleges  are  some  of  the  highest  objects  to  which  the 
eye  of  ambition  is  directed.  Not  so  with  female  institu- 
tions. Preceptresses  of  these,  are  dependent  on  their 
pupils  for  support,  and  are  consequently  liable  to  be- 
come the  victims  of  their  caprice.  In  such  a  situation,  it 

7 


is  not  more  desirable  to  be  a  preceptress,  than  it  would 
be,  to  be  a  parent,  invested  with  the  care  of  children,, 
and  responsible  for  their  behaviour,  but  yet,  depending 
on  them  for  subsistence,  and  destitute  of  power  to  en- 
force their  obedience. 

Feminine  delicacy  requires,  that  girls  should  be  edu- 
cated chiefly  by  their  own  sexi  This  is  apparent  from 
considerations,  that  regard  their  health  and  conven- 
iences, the  propriety  of  their  dress  and  manners,  and 
their  domestic  accomplishments. 

Boarding  schools,  therefore,  whatever  may  be  their 
defects,  furnish  the  best  mode  of  education  provided  for 
females. 

Concerning  these  schools  it  may  be  observed : 

1.  They  are  temporary  institutions,  formed  by  indi- 
viduals, whose  object  is  present  emolument.  But  they 
cannot  be  expected  to  be  greatly  lucrative;  therefore, 
the  individuals  who  establish  them,  cannot  afford  to 
provide  suitable  accommodations,  as  to  room.  At  night, 
the  pupils  are  frequently  crowded  in  their  lodging 
rooms;  and  during  the  day  they  are  generally  placed 
together  in  one  apartment,  where  there  is  a  heteroge- 
neous mixture  of  different  kinds  of  business,  accompa- 
nied with  so  much  noise  and  confusion,  as  greatly  to 
impede  their  progress  in  study. 

2.  As  individuals  cannot  afford  to  provide  suitable 
accommodations  as  to  room,  so  neither  can  they  afford 
libraries,  and  other  apparatus,  necessary  to  teach  prop- 
erly the  various  branches  in  which  they  pretend  to  in- 
struct. 

3.  Neither  can  the  individuals  who  establish  these 
schools  afford  to  provide  suitable  instruction.  It  not 
unfrequently  happens,  that  one  instructress  teaches,  at 
the  same  time  and  in  the  same  room,  ten  or  twelve  dis- 
tinct branches.     If  assistants  are  provided,  such  are 

8 


usually  taken  as  can  be  procured  for  a  small  compensa- 
tion. True,  in  our  large  cities,  preceptresses  provide 
their  pupils  with  masters,  though  at  an  expense,  which 
few  can  afford.  Yet  none  of  these  masters  are  respon- 
sible for  the  general  proficiency  or  demeanour  of  the 
pupils.  Their  only  responsibility,  is  in  the  particular 
branch  which  they  teach;  and  to  a  preceptress,  who 
probably  does  not  understand  it  herself,  and  who  is, 
therefore  incapable  of  judging,  whether  or  not  it  is  well 
taught. 

4.  It  is  impossible,  that  in  these  schools  such  sys- 
tems should  be  adopted  and  enforced,  as  are  requisite 
for  properly  classing  the  pupils.  Institutions  for  young 
gentlemen  are  founded  by  public  authority,  and  are  per- 
manent; they  are  endowed  with  funds,  and  their  in- 
structors and  overseers,  are  invested  with  authority  to 
make  such  laws,  as  they  shall  deem  most  salutary. 
From  their  permanency,  their  lav/s  and  rules  are  well 
known.  With  their  funds  they  procure  libraries,  philo- 
sophical apparatus,  and  other  advantages,  superior  to 
what  can  elsewhere  be  found ;  and  to  enjoy  these,  indi- 
viduals are  placed  under  their  discipline,  who  would 
not  else  be  subjected  to  it.  Hence  the  directors  of 
these  institutions  can  enforce,  among  other  regulations, 
those  which  enable  them  to  make  a  perfect  classifica- 
tion of  their  students.  They  regulate  their  qualifica- 
tions for  entrance,  the  kind  and  order  of  their  studies, 
and  the  period  of  their  remaining  at  the  seminary. 
Female  schools  present  the  reverse  of  this.  Wanting 
permanency,  and  dependent  on  individual  patronage, 
had  they  the  wisdom  to  make  salutary  regulations,  they 
could  neither  enforce  nor  purchase  compliance.  The 
pupils  are  irregular  in  their  times  of  entering  and  leav- 
ing school ;  and  they  are  of  various  and  dissimilar  ac- 
quirements. 


Each  scholar,  of  mature  age,  thinks  she  has  a  right  to 
judge  for  herself  respecting  what  she  is  to  be  taught; 
and  the  parents  of  those,  who  are  not,  consider,  that 
they  have  the  same  right  to  judge  for  them.  Under 
such  disadvantages,  a  school  cannot  be  classed,  except 
in  a  very  imperfect  manner. 

>  5.  It  is  for  the  interest  of  instructresses  of  boarding 
!  schools,  to  teach  their  pupils  showy  accomplishments, 
L  rather  than  those,  which  are  solid  and  useful.  Their 
object  in  teaching  is  generally  present  profit.  In  order 
to  realize  this,  they  must  contrive  to  give  immediate 
celebrity  to  their  schools.  If  they  attend  chiefly  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  mind,  their  work  may  not  be  manifest 
at  the  first  glance ;  but  let  the  pupil  return  home,  laden 
with  fashionable  toys,  and  her  young  companions, 
filled  with  envy  and  astonishment,  are  never  satisfied 
till  they  are  permitted  to  share  the  precious  instruction. 
If  it  is  true,  with  the  turn  of  the  fashion,  the  toys,  which 
they  are  taught  to  make  will  become  obsolete ;  and  no 
benefit  remain  to  them,  of  perhaps  the  only  money,  that 
will  ever  be  expended  on  their  education ;  but  the  ob- 
ject of  the  instructress  may  be  accomplished  notwith- 
standing, if  that  is  directed  to  her  own,  rather  than  her 
pupil's  advantage. 

6.  As  these  schools  are  private  establishments, 
their  preceptresses  are  not  accountable  to  any  particu- 
lar persons.  Any  woman  has  a  right  to  open  a  school 
in  any  place;  and  no  one,  either  from  law  or  custom, 
can  prevent  her.  Hence  the  public  are  liable  to  be  im- 
posed upon,  both  with  respect  to  the  character  and  ac- 
quirements of  preceptresses.  I  am  far,  however,  from 
asserting  that  this  is  always  the  case.  It  has  been  be- 
fore observed,  that  in  the  present  state  of  things,  the 
ordinary  motives  which  actuate  the  human  mind,  would 
not  induce  ladies  of  the  best  and  most  cultivated  tal- 

10 


ents,  to  engage  in  the  business  of  instructing,  from 
choice.  But  some  have  done  it  from  necessity,  and 
occasionally,  an  extraordinary  female  has  occupied  her- 
self in  instructing,  because  she  felt  that  impulse  to  be 
active  and  useful,  which  is  the  characteristic  of  a  vigor- 
ous and  noble  mind;  and  because  she  found  few  ave- 
nues to  extensive  usefulness  open  to  her  sex.  But  if 
such  has  been  the  fact,  it  has  not  been  the  consequence 
of  any  system,  from  which  a  similar  result  can  be  ex- 
pected to  recur  with  regularity;  and  it  remains  true, 
that  the  public  are  liable  to  imposition,  both  with  re- 
gard to  the  character  and  acquirements  of  precep- 
tresses. 

Instances  have  lately  occurred,  in  which  women  of 
bad  reputation,  at  a  distance  from  scenes  of  their  former 
life,  have  been  entrusted  by  our  unsuspecting  citizens 
with  the  instruction  of  their  daughters. 

But  the  moral  reputation  of  individuals,  is  more  a 
matter  of  public  notoriety  than  their  literary  attain- 
ments; hence  society  are  more  liable  to  be  deceived 
with  regard  to  the  acquirements  of  instructresses  than 
with  respect  to  their  characters. 

Those  women,  however,  who  deceive  society  as  to 
the  advantages  which  they  give  their  pupils,  are  not 
charged  with  any  ill  intention.  They  teach  as  they 
were  taught,  and  believe  that  the  public  are  benefitted 
by  their  labours.  Acquiring,  in  their  youth,  a  high 
value  for  their  own  superficial  accomplishments,  they 
regard  all  others  as  supernumerary,  if  not  unbecom- 
ing. Although  these  considerations  exculpate  individ- 
uals, yet  they  do  not  diminish  the  injury  which  society 
receives ;  for  they  show,  that  the  worst  which  is  to  be 
expected  from  such  instruction,  is  not  that  the  pupils 
will  remain  ignorant ;  but  that,  by  adopting  the  views 
of  their  teachers,  they  will  have  their  minds  barred 

11 


against  future  improvement,  by  acquiring  a  disrelish, 
if  not  a  contempt  for  useful  knowledge. 

7.  Although,  from  a  want  of  public  support,  pre- 
ceptresses of  boarding  schools  have  not  the  means  of 
enforcing  such  a  system  as  would  lead  to  a  perfect 
classification  of  their  pupils;  and  although  they  are 
confined  in  other  respects  within  narrow  limits,  yet, 
because  these  establishments  are  not  dependant  on 
any  public  body,  within  those  limits,  they  have  a  power 
far  more  arbitrary  and  uncontrolled,  than  is  allowed  the 
learned  and  judicious  instructors  of  our  male  semi- 
naries. 

They  can,  at  their  option,  omit  their  own  duties,  and 
excuse  their  pupils  from  theirs. 

They  can  make  absurd  and  ridiculous  regulations. 

They  can  make  improper  and  even  wicked  exactions 
of  their  pupils. 

Thus  the  writer  has  endeavoured  to  point  out  the 
defects  of  the  present  mode  of  female  education ;  chief- 
ly in  order  to  show,  that  the  great  cause  of  these  de- 
fects consists  in  a  state  of  things,  in  which  legislatures, 
undervaluing  the  importance  of  women  in  society,  neg- 
lect to  provide  for  their  education,  and  suffer  it  to  be- 
come the  sport  of  adventurers  for  fortune,  who  may  be 
both  ignorant  and  vicious. 

OF  THE  PRINCIPLES  BY  WHICH  EDUCATION 
SHOULD  BE  REGULATED. 

To  contemplate  the  principles  which  should  regulate 
systems  of  instruction,  and  consider  how  little  those 
principles  have  been  regarded  in  educating  our  sex, 
will  show  the  defects  of  female  education  in  a  still 
stronger  point  of  light,  and  will  also  afford  a  standard, 
by  which  any  plan  for  its  improvement  may  be  meas- 

.  ured. 

12 


Education  should  seek  to  bring  its  subjects  to  the 
perfection  of  their  moral,  intellectual  and  physical  na- 
ture :  in  order,  that  they  may  be  of  the  greatest  possible 
use  to  themselves  and  others :  or,  to  use  a  different  ex- 
pression, that  they  may  be  the  means  of  the  greatest 
possible  happiness  of  which  they  are  capable,  both  as 
to  what  they  enjoy,  and  what  they  communicate. 

Those  youth  have  the  surest  chance  of  enjoying  and 
communicating  happiness,  who  are  best  qualified,  both 
by  internal  dispositions,  and  external  habits,  to  perform 
with  readiness,  those  duties,  which  their  future  life  will 
most  probably  give  them  occasion  to  practice. 

Studies  and  employments  should,  therefore,  be  se- 
lected, from  one  or  both  of  the  following  considera- 
tions; either,  because  they  are  peculiarly  fitted  to  im- 
prove the  faculties;  or,  because  they  are  such,  as  the 
pupil  will  most  probably  have  occasion  to  practise  in 
future  life. 

These  are  the  principles,  on  which  systems  of  male 
education  are  founded;  but  female  education  has  not 
yet  been  systematized.  Chance  and  confusion  reign 
here.  Not  even  is  youth  considered  in  our  sex,  as  in 
the  other,  a  season,  which  should  be  v/holly  devoted  to 
improvement.  Among  families,  so  rich  as  to  be  en- 
tirely above  labour,  the  daughters  are  hurried  through 
the  routine  of  boarding  school  instruction,  and  at  an 
early  period  introduced  into  the  gay  world ;  and,  thence- 
forth, their  only  object  is  amusement. — Mark  the  dif- 
ferent treatment,  which  the  sons  of  these  families  re- 
ceive. While  their  sisters  are  gliding  through  the 
mazes  of  the  midnight  dance,  they  employ  the  lamp,  to 
treasure  up  for  future  use  the  riches  of  ancient  wis-1 
dom ;  or  to  gather  strength  and  expansion  of  mind,  in 
exploring  the  wonderful  paths  of  philosophy.  When 
the  youth  of  two  sexes  has  been  spent  so  differently,  is 

13 


it  strange,  or  is  nature  in  fault,  if  more  mature  age  has 
brought  such  a  difference  of  character,  that  our  sex 
have  been  considered  by  the  other,  as  the  pampered, 
wayward  babies  of  society,  who  must  have  some  rattle 
put  into  our  hands,  to  keep  us  from  doing  mischief  to 
ourselves  or  others?* 

Another  difference  in  the  treatment  of  the  sexes  is 
made  in  our  country,  which,  though  not  equally  per- 
nicious to  society,  is  more  pathetically  unjust  to  our 
sex.  How  often  have  we  seen  a  student,  who,  returning 
from  his  literary  pursuits,  finds  a  sister,  who  was  his 
equal  in  acquirements,  while  their  advantages  were 
equal,  of  whom  he  is  now  ashamed.  While  his  youth 
was  devoted  to  study,  and  he  was  furnished  with  the 
means,  she,  without  any  object  of  improvement, 
drudged  at  home,  to  assist  in  the  support  of  the  father's 
family,  and  perhaps  to  contribute  to  her  brother's  sub- 
sistence abroad ;  and  now,  a  being  of  a  lower  order,  the 
rustic  innocent  wonders  and  weeps  at  his  neglect. 

Not  only  has  there  been  a  want  of  system  concerning 
female  education,  but  much  of  what  has  been  done,  has 
proceeded  upon  mistaken  principles. 

One  of  these  is,  that,  without  a  regard  to  the  differ- 
ent periods  of  life,  proportionate  to  their  importance, 
the  education  of  females  has  been  too  exclusively  di- 
rrected,  to  fit  them  for  displaying  to  advantage  the 
'  charms  of  youth  and  beauty.  Though  it  may  be  proper 
to  adorn  this  period  of  life,  yet,  it  is  incomparably  more 
important,  to  prepare  for  the  serious  duties  of  maturer 
years.  Though  well  to  decorate  the  blossom,  it  is  far 
better  to  prepare  for  the  harvest.  In  the  vegetable  cre- 
ation, nature  seems  but  to  sport,  when  she  embellishes 


*Several  noted  writers  have  recommended  certain  accomplish- 
ments to  our  sex,  to  keep  us  from  scandal  and  other  vices ;  or  to  use 
Mr.  Addison's  expression,  "to  keep  us  out  of  harm's  way." 

14 


the  flower;  while  all  her  serious  cares  are  directed  to 
perfect  the  fruit. 

Another  crrour  is,  that  it  has  been  made  the  first 
object  in  educating  our  sex,  to  prepare  them  to  please 
the  other.  But  reason  and  religion  teach,  that  v/e  too 
are  primary  existencies ;  that  it  is  for  us  to  move,  in  the 
orbit  of  our  duty,  around  the  Holy  Centre  of  perfec- 
tion, the  companions,  not  the  satellites  of  men;  else, 
instead  of  shedding  around  us  an  influence,  that  may 
help  to  keep  them  in  their  proper  course,  we  must  ac- 
company them  in  their  wildest  deviations. 

I  would  not  be  understood  to  insinuate,  that  we  are 
not,  in  particular  situations,  to  yield  obedience  to  the 
other  sex.  Submission  and  obedience  belong  to  every 
being  in  the  universe,  except  the  great  Master  of  the 
whole.  Nor  is  it  a  degrading  peculiarity  to  our  sex,  to 
be  under  human  authority.  Whenever  one  class  of 
human  beings,  derive  from  another  the  benefits  of  sup- 
port and  protection,  they  must  pay  its  equivalent,  obe- 
dience. Thus,  while  we  receive  these  benefits  from  our 
parents,  we  are  all,  without  distinction  of  sex,  under 
their  authority;  when  we  receive  them  from  the  gov- 
ernment of  our  country,  we  must  obey  our  rulers ;  and 
when  our  sex  take  the  obligations  of  marriage,  and 
receive  protection  and  support  from  the  other,  it  is 
reasonable,  that  we  too  should  yield  obedience.  Yet  is 
neither  the  child,  nor  the  subject,  nor  the  wife,  under 
human  authority,  but  in  subservience  to  the  divine. 
Our  highest  responsibility  is  to  God,  and  our  highest 
interest  is  to  please  him ;  therefore,  to  secure  this  inter- 
est, should  our  education  be  directed. 

Neither  would  I  be  understood  to  mean,  that  our  sex 
should  not  seek  to  make  themselves  agreeable  to  the 
other.  The  errour  complained  of,  is  that  the  taste  of 
men,  whatever  it  might  happen  to  be,  has  been  made  a 

15 


standard  for  the  formation  of  the  female  character.  In 
whatever  we  do,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  that  the 
rule,  by  which  we  work,  be  perfect.  For  if  otherwise, 
what  is  it,  but  to  err  upon  principle?  A  system  of  edu- 
cation, which  leads  one  class  of  human  beings  to  con- 
sider the  approbation  of  another,  as  their  highest  ob- 
ject, teaches,  that  the  rule  of  their  conduct  should  be 
the  will  of  beings,  imperfect  and  erring  like  themselves, 
rather  than  the  will  of  God,  which  is  the  only  standard 
of  perfection. 

Having  now  considered  female  education,  both  in 
theory  and  practice,  and  seen,  that  in  its  present  state, 
it  is  in  fact  a  thing  "without  form  and  void,"  the  mind  is 
naturally  led  to  inquire  after  a  remedy  for  the  evils  it 
has  been  contemplating.  Can  individuals  furnish  this 
remedy?  It  has  heretofore  been  left  to  them,  and  we 
have  seen  the  consequence.  If  education  is  a  business, 
which  might  naturally  prosper,  if  left  to  individual 
exertion,  why  have  legislatures  intermeddled  with  it  at 
all?  if  it  is  not,  why  do  they  make  their  daughters- 
illegitimates,  and  bestow  all  their  cares  upon  their  sons? 

It  is  the  duty  of  a  government,  to  do  all  in  its  power 
to  promote  the  present  and  future  prosperity  of  the 
nation,  over  which  it  is  placed.  This  prosperity  will 
depend  on  the  character  of  its  citizens.  The  characters 
of  these  will  be  formed  by  their  mothers ;  and  it  is 
through  the  mothers,  that  the  government  can  control 
the  characters  of  its  future  citizens,  to  form  them  such 
as  will  ensure  their  country's  prosperity.  If  this  is  the 
case,  then  it  is  the  duty  of  our  present  legislators  to 
begin  now,  to  form  the  characters  of  the  next  genera- 
tion, by  controling  that  of  the  females,  who  are  to  be 
their  mothers,  while  it  is  yet  with  them  a  season  of  im- 
provement. 

But  should  the  conclusion  be  almost  admitted,  that 

16 


our  sex  too  are  the  legitimate  children  of  the  legisla- 
ture; and,  that  it  is  their  duty  to  afford  us  a  share  of 
their  paternal  bounty ;  the  phantom  of  a  college-learned 
lady,  would  be  ready  to  rise  up,  and  destroy  every  good 
resolution,  which  the  admission  of  this  truth  would 
naturally  produce  in  our  favour. 

To  shew  that  it  is  not  a  masculine  education  which 
is  here  recommended,  and  to  afford  a  definite  view  of 
the  manner  in  which  a  female  institution  might  possess 
the  respectability,  permanency,  and  uniformity  of  oper- 
ation of  those  appropriated  to  males;  and  yet  differ 
from  them,  so  as  to  be  adapted  to  that  difference  of 
character  and  duties,  to  which  the  softer  sex  should  be 
formed,  is  the  object  of  the  following  imperfect 

SKETCH  OF  A  FEMALE  SEMINARY. 

From  considering  the  deficiencies  in  boarding 
schools,  much  may  be  learned,  with  regard  to  what 
would  be  needed,  for  the  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  a 
public   seminary   for   females. 

I.  There  would  be  needed  a  building,  with  com- 
modious rooms  for  lodging  and  recitation,  apartments 
for  the  reception  of  apparatus,  and  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  domestic  department. 

II.  A  library,  containing  books  on  the  various  sub- 
jects in  which  the  pupils  were  to  receive  instruction; 
musical  instruments,  some  good  paintings,  to  form  the 
taste  and  serve  as  models  for  the  execution  of  those  who 
were  to  be  instructed  in  that  art;  maps,  globes,  and  a 
small  collection  of  philosophical  apparatus. 

III.  A  judicious  board  of  trust,  competent  and  de- 
sirous to  promote  its  interests,  would  in  a  female,  as  in 
a  male  literary  institution,  be  the  corner  stone  of  its 
prosperity.    On  this  board  it  would  depend  to  provide, 

17 


\ 

IV.  Suitable  instruction.  This  article  may  be  sub- 
divided under  four  heads. 

1.  Religious  and  Moral. 

2.  Literary. 

3.  Domestic. 

4.  Ornamental. 

1.  Religious  and  Moral.  A  regular  attention  to  re- 
ligious duties  would,  of  course  be  required  of  the  pupils 
by  the  laws  of  the  institution.  The  trustees  would  be 
careful  to  appoint  no  instructors,  who  would  not  teach 
religion  and  morality,  both  by  their  example,  and  by 
leading  the  minds  of  the  pupils  to  perceive,  that  these 
constitute  the  true  end  of  all  education.  It  would  be 
desirable,  that  the  young  ladies  should  spend  a  part  of 
their  Sabbaths  in  hearing  discourses  relative  to  the  pe- 
culiar duties  of  their  sex.  The  evidences  of  Christian- 
ity, and  moral  philosophy,  would  constitute  a  part  of 
their  studies. 

2.  Literary  Instruction.  To  make  an  exact  enu- 
meration of  the  branches  of  literature,  which  might  be 
taught,  would  be  impossible,  unless  the  time  of  the 
pupils'  continuance  at  the  seminary,  and  the  requisites 
for  entrance,  were  previously  fixed.  Such  an  enumera- 
tion would  be  tedious,  nor  do  I  conceive  that  it  would 
be  at  all  promotive  of  my  object.  '  The  difficulty  com- 
plained of,  is  not,  that  we  are  at  a  loss  what  sciences 
we  ought  to  learn,  but  that  we  have  not  proper  advan- 
tages to  learn  any.  Many  writers  have  given  us  excel- 
lent advice  with  regard  to  what  we  should  be  taught, 
but  no  legislature  has  provided  us  the  means  of  instruc- 
tion. Not  however,  to  pass  lightly  over  this  funda- 
mental part  of  education,  I  will  mention  one  or  two  of 
the  less  obvious  branches  of  science,  which,  I  conceive 
should  engage  the  youthful  attention  of  my  sex. 

It  is  highly  important,  that  females  should  be  con- 

18 


versant  with  those  studies,  which  will  lead  them  to 
understand  the  operations  of  the  human  mind.  The 
chief  use  to  which  the  philosophy  of  the  mind  can  be 
applied,  is  to  regulate  education  by  its  rules.  The 
ductile  mind  of  the  child  is  intrusted  to  the  mother: 
and  she  ought  to  have  every  possible  assistance,  in  ac- 
quiring a  knowledge  of  this  noble  material,  on  which 
it  is  her  business  to  operate,  that  she  may  best  under- 
stand how  to  mould  it  to  its  most  excellent  form. 

Natural  philosophy  has  not  often  been  taught  to  our 
sex.  Yet  why  should  we  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  the 
great  machinery  of  nature,  and  left  to  the  vulgar  no- 
tion, that  nothing  is  curious  but  what  deviates  from 
her  common  course?  If  mothers  were  acquainted  with 
this  science,  they  would  communicate  very  many  of  its 
principles  to  their  children  in  early  youth.  From  the 
bursting  of  an  egg  buried  in  the  fire,  I  have  heard  an 
intelligent  mother,  lead  her  prattling  inquirer,  to  under- 
stand the  cause  of  the  earthquake.  But  how  often  does 
the  mother,  from  ignorance  on  this  subject,  give  her 
child  the  most  erroneous  and  contracted  views  of  the 
causes  of  natural  phenomena;  views,  which,  though  he 
may  afterwards  learn  to  be  false,  are  yet,  from  the  laws 
of  association,  ever  ready  to  return,  unless  the  active 
powers  of  the  mind  are  continually  upon  the  alert  to 
keep  theni  out.  A  knowledge  of  natural  philosophy  is 
calculated  to  heighten  the  moral  taste,  by  bringing  to 
view  the  majesty  and  beauty  of  order  and  design ;  and 
to  enliven  piety,  by  enabling  the  mind  more  clearly  to 
perceive,  throughout  the  manifold  works  of  God,  that 
wisdom,  in  which  he  hath  made  them  all. 

In  some  of  the  sciences  proper  for  our  sex,  the  books, 
written  for  the  other,  would  need  alteration;  because, 
in  some  they  presuppose  more  knowledge  than  female 
pupils  would  possess;  in  others,  they  have  parts  not 

19 


particularly  interesting  to  our  sex,  and  omit  subjects 
immediately  relating  to  their  pursuits.  There  would 
likewise  be  needed,  for  a  female  seminary,  some  works, 
which  I  believe  are  no  where  extant,  such  as  a  system- 
atic treatise  on  housewifery. 

3.  Domestic  Instruction  should  be  considered  im- 
portant in  a  female  seminary.  It  is  the  duty  of  our  sex 
to  regulate  the  internal  concerns  of  every  family;  and 
unless  they  be  properly  qualified  to  discharge  this  duty, 
whatever  may  be  their  literary  or  ornamental  attain- 
ments, they  cannot  be  expected  to  make  either  good 
wives,  good  mothers,  or  good  mistresses  of  families: 
and  if  they  are  none  of  these,  they  must  be  bad  mem- 
bers of  society ;  for  it  is  by  promoting  or  destroying  the 
comfort  and  prosperity  of  their  own  families,  that  fe- 
males serve  or  injure  the  community.  To  superin- 
tend the  domestic  department,  there  should  be  a  re- 
spectable lady,  experienced  in  the  best  methods  of 
housewifery,  and  acquainted  with  propriety  of  dress 
and  manners.  Under  her  tuition  the  pupils  ought  to  be 
placed  for  a  certain  length  of  time  every  morning.  A 
spirit  of  neatness  and  order  should  here  be  treated  as  a 
virtue,  and  the  contrary,  if  excessive  and  incorrigible, 
be  punished  with  expulsion.  There  might  be  a  grada- 
tion of  employment  in  the  domestic  department,  ac- 
cording to  the  length  of  time  the  pupils  had  remained 
at  the  institution.  The  older  scholars  might  then  assist 
the  superintendant  in  instructing  the  younger,  and  the 
whole  be  so  arranged,  that  each  pupil  might  have  ad- 
vantages to  become  a  good  domestic  manager  by  the 
time  she  has  completed  her  studies. 

This  plan  would  afford  a  healthy  exercise.  It  would 
prevent  that  estrangement  from  domestic  duties,  which 
would  be  likely  to  take  place  in  a  length  of  time  de- 
voted to  study,  with  those,  to  whom  they  were  previ- 

20 


ously  familiar;  and  would  accustom  those  to  them, 
who,  from  ignorance,  might  otherwise  put  at  hazard 
their  own  happiness,  and  the  prosperity  of  their  fami- 
lies. 

These  objects  might  doubtless  be  effected  by  a 
scheme  of  domestic  instruction;  and  probably  others 
of  no  inconsiderable  importance.  It  is  believed,  that 
housewifery  might  be  greatly  improved,  by  being 
taught,  not  only  in  practice,  but  in  theory.  Why  may  it 
not  be  reduced  to  a  system,  as  well  as  other  arts? 
There  are  right  ways  of  performing  its  various  opera- 
tions ;  and  there  are  reasons  why  those  ways  are  right ; 
and  why  may  not  rules  be  formed,  their  reasons  col- 
lected; and  the  whole  be  digested  into  a  system  to 
guide  the  learner's  practice? 

It  is  obvious,  that  theory  alone,  can  never  make  a 
good  artist ;  and  it  is  equally  obvious,  that  practice  un- 
aided by  theory,  can  never  correct  errors,  but  must  es- 
tablish them.  If  I  should  perform  any  thing  in  a  wrong 
manner  all  my  life,  and  teach  my  children  to  perform  it 
in  the  same  manner,  still,  through  my  life  and  theirs, 
it  would  be  wrong.  Without  alteration  there  can  be  no 
improvement ;  but  how  are  we  to  alter,  so  as  to  improve, 
if  we  are  ignorant  of  the  principles  of  our  art,  with 
which  we  should  compare  our  practice,  and  by  which 
we  should  regulate  it? 

In  the  present  state  of  things,  it  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected, that  any  material  improvements  in  house- 
v/ifery  should  be  made.  There  being  no  uniformity  of 
method,  prevailing  among  different  housewives,  of 
course,  the  communications  from  one  to  another,  are 
not  much  more  likely  to  improve  the  art,  than  a  com- 
munication, between  two  mechanics  of  different  trades, 
would  be,  to  improve  each  in  his  respective  occupation. 
But  should  a  system  of  principles  be  philosophically 

21 


arranged,  and  taught,  both  in  theory  and  by  practice, 
to  a  large  number  of  females,  whose  minds  were  ex- 
panded and  strengthened  by  a  course  of  literary  in- 
struction, those  among  them,  of  an  investigating  turn, 
would,  when  they  commenced  housekeepers,  consider 
their  domestic  operations  as  a  series  of  experiments, 
which  either  proved  or  refuted  the  system  previously 
taught.  They  would  then  converse  together  like  those, 
who  practise  a  common  art,  and  improve  each  other  by 
their  observations  and  experiments ;  and  they  would  al- 
so be  capable  of  improving  the  system,  by  detecting  its 
errors,  and  by  making  additions  of  new  principles  and 
better  modes  of  practice. 

4.  The  Ornamental  branches,  which  I  should  rec- 
ommend for  a  female  seminary,  are  drawing  and  paint- 
ing, elegant  penmanship,  music,  and  the  grace  of  mo- 
tion. Needle-work  is  not  here  mentioned.  The  best 
style  of  useful  needle-work  should  either  be  taught  in 
the  domestic  department,  or  made  a  qualification  for 
entrance;  and  I  consider  that  useful,  which  may  con- 
tribute to  the  decoration  of  a  lady's  person,  or  the  con- 
venience and  neatness  of  her  family.  But  the  use  of 
the  needle,  for  other  purposes  than  these,  as  it  affords 
little  to  assist  in  the  formation  of  the  character,  I  should 
regard  as  a  waste  of  time. 

The  grace  of  motion,  must  be  learnt  chiefly  from  in- 
struction in  dancing.  Other  advantages  besides  that  of 
a  graceful  carriage,  might  be  derived  from  such  in- 
struction, if  the  lessons  were  judiciously  timed.  Exer- 
cise is  needful  to  the  health,  and  recreation  to  the  cheer- 
fulness and  contentment  of  youth.  Female  youth  could 
not  be  allowed  to  range  unrestrained,  to  seek  amuse- 
ment for  themselves.  If  it  was  entirely  prohibited,  they 
would  be  driven  to  seek  it  by  stealth ;  which  would  lead 
them  to  many  improprieties  of  conduct,  and  would  have 

22 


a  pernicious  effect  upon  their  general  character,  by  in- 
ducing a  habit  of  treading  forbidden  paths.  The  alter- 
native that  remains  is  to  provide  them  with  proper  rec- 
reation, which,  after  the  confinement  of  the  day,  they 
might  enjoy  under  the  eye  of  their  instructors.  Danc- 
ing is  exactly  suited  to  this  purpose,  as  also  to  that  of 
exercise;  for  perhaps  in  no  way,  can  so  much  healthy 
exercise  be  taken  in  so  short  a  time.  It  has  besides, 
this  advantage  over  other  amusements,  that  it  affords 
nothing  to  excite  the  bad  passions;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, its  effects  are,  to  soften  the  mind,  to  banish  its 
animosities,  and  to  open  it  to  social  impressions. 

It  may  be  said,  that  dancing  would  dissipate  the  at- 
tention, and  estrange  it  from  study.  Balls  would  doubt- 
less have  this  effect ;  but  let  dancing  be  practised  every 
day,  by  youth  of  the  same  sex,  without  change  of  place, 
dress,  or  company,  and  under  the  eye  of  those,  whom 
they  are  accustomed  to  obey,  and  it  would  excite  no 
more  emotion,  than  any  other  exercise  or  amusement, 
but  in  degree,  as  it  is  of  itself  more  pleasant.  But  it 
must  ever  be  a  grateful  exercise  to  youth,  as  it  is  one, 
to  which  nature  herself  prompts  them,  at  the  sound  of 
animating  music. 

It  has  been  doubted,  whether  painting  and  music 
should  be  taught  to  young  ladies,  because  much  time 
is  requisite  to  bring  them  to  any  considerable  degree  of 
perfection,  and  they  are  not  immediately  useful. 
Though  these  objections  have  weight,  yet  they  are 
founded  on  too  limited  a  view  of  the  objects  of  educa- 
tion. They  leave  out  the  important  consideration  of 
forming  the  character.  I  should  not  consider  it  an  es- 
sential point,  that  the  music  of  a  lady's  piano  should 
rival  that  of  her  master's;  or  that  her  drawing  room 
should  be  decorated  with  her  own  paintings,  rather 
than  those  of  others ;  but  it  is  the  intrinsic  advantage, 

23 


which  she  might  derive  from  the  refinement  of  herself, 
that  would  induce  me  to  recommend  to  her,  an  atten- 
tion to  those  elegant  pursuits.  The  harmony  of  sound, 
has  a  tendency  to  produce  a  correspondent  harmony  of 
soul ;  and  that  art,  which  obliges  us  to  study  nature,  in 
order  to  imitate  her,  often  enkindles  the  latent  spark  of 
taste — of  sensibility  for  her  beauties,  till  it  glows  to 
adoration  for  their  author,  and  a  refined  love  of  all  his 
works. 

V.  There  would  be  needed,  for  a  female,  as  well  as 
for  a  male  seminary,  a  system  of  laws  and  regulations, 
so  arranged,  that  both  the  instructors  and  pupils  would 
know  their  duty;  and  thus,  the  whole  business,  move 
with  regularity  and  uniformity. 

The  lav/s  of  the  institution  would  be  chiefly  directed, 
to  regulate  the  pupil's  qualifications  for  entrance,  the 
kind  and  order  of  their  studies,  their  behaviour  while  at 
the  institution,  the  term,  allotted  for  the  completion  of 
their  studies,  the  punishments  to  be  inflicted  on  of- 
fenders and  the  rev/ards  or  honours,  to  be  bestowed  on 
the  virtuous  and  diligent. 

The  direct  rewards  or  honors,  used  to  stimulate  the 
ambition  of  students  in  colleges,  are  first,  the  certifi- 
cate or  diploma,  which  each  receives,  who  passes  suc- 
cessfully through  the  term  allotted  to  his  collegiate 
studies ;  and  secondly,  the  appointments  to  perform  cer- 
tain parts  in  public  exhibitions,  which  are  bestowed  by 
the  faculty,  as  rewards  for  superior  scholarship.  The 
first  of  these  modes  is  admissible  into  a  female  semi- 
nary; the  second  is  not;  as  public  speaking  forms  no 
part  of  female  education.  The  want  of  this  mode, 
might,  however,  be  supplied  by  examinations  judi- 
ciously conducted.  The  leisure  and  inclination  of  both 
instructors  and  scholars,  would  combine  to  produce  a 
thorough  preparation  for  these;  for  neither  would  have 

24 


any  other  public  test  of  the  success  of  their  labors. 
Persons  of  both  sexes  would  attend.  The  less  enter- 
taining parts,  might  be  enlivened  by  interludes,  where 
the  pupils  in  painting  and  music,  would  display  their 
several  improvements.  Such  examinations,  would 
stimulate  the  instructors  to  give  their  scholars  more  at- 
tention, by  which  the  leading  facts  and  principles  of 
their  studies,  would  be  more  clearly  understood,  and 
better  remembered.  The  ambition  excited  among  the 
pupils,  would  operate,  without  placing  the  instructors 
under  the  necessity  of  making  distinctions  among  them, 
which  are  so  apt  to  be  considered  as  invidious;  and 
which  are,  in  our  male  seminaries,  such  fruitful  sources 
of  disaffection. 

Perhaps  the  term  allotted  for  the  routine  of  study  at 
the  seminary,  might  be  three  years.  The  pupils,  prob- 
ably, would  not  be  fitted  to  enter,  till  about  the  age  of 
fourteen.  Whether  they  attended  to  all,  or  any  of  the 
ornamental  branches,  should  be  left  optional  with  the 
parents  or  guardians.  Those  who  were  to  be  instructed 
in  them,  should  be  entered  for  a  longer  term,  but  if  this 
was  a  subject  of  previous  calculation,  no  confusion 
would  arise  from  it.  The  routine  of  the  exercises  being 
established  by  the  laws  of  the  institution,  would  be  uni- 
form, and  publicly  known;  and  those,  who  were  pre- 
viously acquainted  with  the  branches  first  taught, 
might  enter  the  higher  classes;  nor  would  those  who 
entered  the  lowest,  be  obliged  to  remain  during  the 
three  years.  Thus  the  term  of  remaining  at  the  insti- 
tution, might  be  either  one,  two,  three,  four,  or  more 
years ;  and  that,  without  interfering  with  the  regularity 
and  uniformity  of  its  proceedings. 

The  writer  has  now  given  a  sketch  of  her  plan.  She 
has  by  no  means  expressed  all  the  ideas,  which  occurred 
to  her  concerning  it.    She  wished  to  be  as  concise  as 

25 


possible,  and  yet  afford  conviction,  that  it  is  practicable, 
to  organize  a  system  of  female  education,  which  shall 
possess  the  permanency,  uniformity  of  operation,  and 
respectability  of  our  male  institutions;  and  yet  differ 
from  them,  so  as  to  be  adapted,  to  that  difference  of 
character,  and  duties,  to  which  early  instruction  should 
form  the  softer  sex. 

It  ^ow  remains,  to  enquire  more  particularly,  what 
would  be  the  benefits  resulting  from  such  a  system. 


BENEFITS  OF  FEMALE  SEMINARIES. 

In  inquiring,  concerning  the  benefits  of  the  plan  pro- 
posed, I  shall  proceed  upon  the  supposition,  that  female 
seminaries  will  be  patronized  throughout  our  country. 

Nor  is  this  altogether  a  visionary  supposition.  If 
one  seminary  should  be  well  organized,  its  advantages 
would  be  found  so  great,  that  others  would  soon  be  in- 
stituted ;  and,  that  sufficient  patronage  can  be  found  to 
put  one  in  operation,  may  be  presumed  from  its  reason- 
ableness, and  from  the  public  opinion,  with  regard  to 
the  present  mode  of  female  education.  It  is  from  an 
intimate  acquaintance,  with  those  parts  of  our  country, 
whose  education  is  said  to  flourish  most,  that  the  writer 
has  drawn  her  picture  of  the  present  state  of  female  in- 
struction ;  and  she  knows,  that  she  is  not  alone,  in  per- 
ceiving or  deploring  its  faults.  Her  sentiments  are 
shared  by  many  an  enlightened  parent  of  a  daughter, 
who  has  received  a  boarding  school  education.  Count- 
ing on  the  promise  of  her  childhood,  the  father  had  an- 
ticipated her  maturity,  as  combining  what  is  excellent 
in  mind,  with  what  is  elegant  in  manners.  He  spared  no 
expense  that  education  might  realize  to  him,  the  image 
of  his  imagination.    His  daughter  returned  from  board- 

26 


ing  school,  improved  in  fashionable  airs,  and  expert  in 
manufacturing  fashionable  toys;  but,  in  her  conversa- 
tion, he  sought  in  vain,  for  that  refined  and  fertile  mind, 
which  he  had  fondly  expected.  Aware  that  his  disap- 
pointment has  its  source  in  a  defective  education,  he 
looks  with  anxiety  on  his  other  daughters,  whose 
minds,  like  lovely  buds,  are  beginning  to  open.  Where 
shall  he  find  a  genial  soil,  in  which  he  may  place  them  to 
expand?  Shall  he  provide  them  male  instructors? — 
Then  the  graces  of  their  persons  and  manners,  and 
whatever  forms  the  distinguishing  charm  of  the  femi- 
nine character,  they  cannot  be  expected  to  acquire. — 
Shall  he  give  them  a  private  tutoress?  She  will  have 
been  educated  at  the  boarding  school,  and  his  daughters 
will  have  the  faults  of  its  instruction  second-handed. 
Such  is  now  the  dilemma  of  many  parents;  and  it  is 
one,  from  which  they  cannot  be  extricated  by  their  in- 
dividual exertions.  May  not  then  the  only  plan,  which 
promises  to  relieve  them,  expect  their  vigorous  sup- 
port. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  inquire,  what  benefits  would 
result  from  the  establishment  of  female  seminaries. 

They  would  constitute  a  grade  of  public  education, 
superior  to  any  yet  known  in  the  history  of  our  sex; 
and  through  them,  the  lower  grades  of  female  instruc- 
tion might  be  controlled.  The  influence  of  public  semi- 
naries, over  these,  would  operate  in  two  ways;  first, 
by  requiring  certain  qualifications  for  entrance;  and 
secondly,  by  furnishing  instructresses,  initiated  in  their 
modes  of  teaching,  and  imbued  with  their  maxims. 

Female  seminaries  might  be  expected  to  have  im- 
portant and  happy  effects,  on  common  schools  in  gen- 
eral; and  in  the  manner  of  operating  on  these,  would 
probably  place  the  business  of  teaching  children,  in 
hands  now  nearly  useless  to  society ;  and  take  it  from 

27 


those,  whose  services  the  state  wants  in  many  other 
ways. 

That  nature  designed  for  our  sex  the  care  of  children, 
she  has  made  manifest,  by  mental,  as  well  as  physical 
indications.  She  has  given  us,  in  a  greater  degree  than 
men,  the  gentle  arts  of  insinuation,  to  soften  their 
minds,  and  fit  them  to  receive  impressions;  a  greater 
quickness  of  invention  to  vary  modes  of  teaching  to 
different  dispositions;  and  more  patience  to  make  re- 
peated efforts.  There  are  many  females  of  ability,  to 
whom  the  business  of  instructing  children  is  highly  ac- 
ceptable, and,  who  would  devote  all  their  faculties  to 
their  occupation.  They  would  have  no  higher  pecuni- 
ary object  to  engage  their  attention,  and  their  reputa- 
tion as  instructors  they  would  consider  as  important; 
whereas,  whenever  able  and  enterprizing  men,  engage 
in  this  business,  they  consider  it,  merely  as  a  temporary 
employment,  to  further  some  other  object,  to  the  at- 
tainment of  which,  their  best  thoughts  and  calculations 
are  all  directed.  If  then  women  were  properly  fitted 
by  instruction,  they  would  be  likely  to  teach  children 
better  than  the  other  sex;  they  could  afford  to  do  it 
cheaper;  and  those  men  who  would  otherwise  be  en- 
gaged in  this  employment,  might  be  at  liberty  to  add  to 
the  wealth  of  the  nation,  by  any  of  those  thousand  oc- 
cupations, from  which  women  are  necessarily  debarred. 

But  the  females,  who  taught  children,  would  have 
been  themselves  instructed  either  immediately  or  in- 
directly by  the  seminaries.  Hence  through  these,  the 
government  might  exercise  an  intimate,  and  most  beni- 
ficial  control  over  common  schools.  Any  one,  who  has 
turned  his  attention  to  this  subject,  must  be  aware,  that 
there  is  great  room  for  improvement  in  these,  both  as 
to  the  modes  of  teaching,  and  the  things  taught;  and 
what  method  could  be  devised  so  likely  to  effect  this 

28 


improvement,  as  to  prepare  by  instruction,  a  class  of 
individuals,  whose  interest,  leisure,  and  natural  talents,, 
would  combine  to  make  them  pursue  it  with  ardour. 
Such  a  class  of  individuals  would  be  raised  up,  by  fe- 
male seminaries.  And  therefore  they  would  be  likely 
to  have  highly  important  and  happy  effects  on  com- 
mon schools. 

It  is  believed,  that  such  institutions,  would  tend  to 
prolong,  or  perpetuate  our  excellent  government. 

An  opinion  too  generally  prevails,  that  our  present 
form  of  government,  though  good,  cannot  be  perma- 
nent. Other  republics  have  failed,  and  the  historian 
and  philosopher  have  told  us,  that  nations  are  like  in- 
dividuals ;  that,  at  their  birth,  they  receive  the  seeds  of 
their  decline  and  dissolution.  Here  deceived  by  a  false 
analagy,  we  receive  an  apt  illustration  of  particular 
facts,  for  a  general  truth.  The  existence  of  nations, 
cannot,  in  strictness,  be  compared  with  the  duration  of 
animate  life;  for  by  the  operation  of  physical  causes, 
this,  after  a  certain  length  of  time,  must  cease:  but 
the  existence  of  nations,  is  prolonged  by  the  succes- 
sion of  one  generation  to  another,  and  there  is  no  physi- 
cal cause,  to  prevent  this  succession's  going  on,  in  a 
peaceable  manner,  under  a  good  government,  till  the 
end  of  time.  We  must  then  look  to  other  causes,  than 
necessity,  for  the  decline  and  fall  of  former  republics. 
If  we  could  discover  these  causes,  and  seasonably  pre- 
vent their  operation,  then  might  our  latest  posterity 
enjoy  the  same  happy  government,  with  which  we  are 
blessedr^r  if  but  in  part,  then  might  the  triumph  of 
tyranny,  be  delayed,  and  a  few  more  generations  be 
free. 

Permit  me  then  to  ask  the  enlightened  politician  of 
my  country,  whether  amidst  his  researches  for  these 
causes,  he  cannot  discpver  one,  in  the  neglect,  which 

29 


free  governments,  in  common  with  others,  have  shown, 
to  whatever  regarded  the  formation  of  the  female  char- 
acter. 

In  those  great  republics,  which  have  fallen  of  them- 
selves, the  loss  of  republican  manners  and  virtues,  has 
been  the  invariable  precursor,  of  their  loss  of  the  re- 
publican form  of  government.  But  is  it  not  in  the 
power  of  our  sex,  to  give  society  its  tone,  both  as  to 
manners  and  morals?  And  if  such  is  the  extent  of  fe- 
male influence,  is  it  wonderful,  that  republics  have 
failed,  when  they  calmly  suffered  that  influence,  to  be- 
come enlisted  in  favour  of  luxuries  and  follies,  wholly 
incompatible  with  the  existence  of  freedom? 

It  may  be  said,  that  the  depravation  of  morals  and 
manners,  can  be  traced  to  the  introduction  of  wealth, 
as  its  cause.  But  wealth  will  be  introduced;  even  the 
iron  laws  of  Lycurgus  could  not  prevent  it.  Let  us 
then  inquire,  if  means  may  not  be  devised,  to  prevent 
its  bringing  with  it  the  destruction  of  public  virtue. 
May  not  these  means  be  found  in  education? — in  im- 
planting, in  early  youth,  habits,  that  may  counteract 
the  temptations,  to  which,  through  the  influence  of 
wealth,  mature  age  will  be  exposed?  and  in  giving 
strength  and  expansion  to  the  mind,  that  it  may  com- 
prehend, and  prize  those  principles,  which  teach  the 
rigid  performance  of  duty?  Education,  it  may  be  said, 
has  been  tried  as  a  preservative  of  national  purity.  But 
was  it  applied  to  every  exposed  part  of  the  body  poli- 
tic? For  if  any  part  has  been  left  within  the  pestilen- 
tial atmosphere  of  wealth,  without  this  preservative, 
then  that  part  becoming  corrupted,  would  communi- 
cate the  contagion  to  the  whole ;  and  if  so,  then  has  the 
experiment,  whether  education  may  not  preserve  pub- 
lic virtue,  never  yet  been  fairly  tried.  Such  a  part  has 
been  left  in  all  former  experiments.    Females  have  been 

30 


exposed  to  the  contagion  of  wealth  without  the  preserv- 
ative of  a  good  education;  and  they  constitute  that 
part  of  the  body  politic,  least  endowed  by  nature  to 
resist,  most  to  communicate  it.  Nay,  not  merely  have 
they  been  left  without  the  defence  of  a  good  education, 
but  their  corruption  has  been  accelerated  by  a  bad  one. 
The  character  of  women  of  rank  and  wealth  has  been, 
and  in  the  old  governments  of  Europe  now  is,  all  that 
this  statement  would  lead  us  to  expect.  Not  content 
with  doing  nothing  to  promote  their  country's  welfare, 
like  pampered  children,  they  revel  in  its  prosperity, 
and  scatter  it  to  the  winds,  with  a  wanton  profusion: 
and  still  worse, — they  empoison  its  source,  by  diffusing 
a  contempt  for  useful  labour.  To  court  pleasure  their 
business, — within  her  temple,  in  defiance  of  the  laws 
of  God  and  man,  they  have  erected  the  idol  fashion ;  and 
upon  her  altar,  they  sacrifice,  with  shameless  rites, 
whatever  is  sacred  to  virtue  or  religion.  Not  the 
strongest  ties  of  nature, — ^not  even  maternal  love  can 
restrain  them!  Like  the  worshipper  of  Moloch,  the 
mother  while  yet  yearning  over  the  new  born  babe, 
tears  it  from  the  bosom,  which  God  has  swelled  with 
nutrition  for  its  support,  and  casts  it  remorseless  from 
her,  the  victim  of  her  unhallowed  devotion! 

But  while,  with  an  anguished  heart,  I  thus  depict  the 
crimes  of  my  sex,  let  not  the  other  stand  by  and  smile. 
Reason  declares,  that  you  are  guiltier  than  we.  You 
are  our  natural  guardians, — our  brothers,~our  fathers, 
and  our  rulers.  You  know  that  our  ductile  minds, 
readily  take  the  impressions  of  education.  Why  then 
have  you  neglected  our  education?  Why  have  you 
looked  with  lethargic  indifference,  on  circumstances 
ruinous  to  the  formation  of  our  characters,  which  you 
might  have  controlled? 

But  it  may  be  said,  the  observations  here  made,  can- 

31 


not  be  applied  to  any  class  of  females  in  our  country.. 
True,  they  cannot  yet;  and  if  they  could,  it  would  be 
useless  to  make  them;  for  when  the  females  of  any 
country  have  become  thus  debased,  then,  is  that  coun- 
try so  corrupted,  that  nothing,  but  the  awful  judgments 
of  heaven,  can  arrest  its  career  of  vice.  But  it  cannot 
be  denied,  that  our  manners  are  verging  towards  those 
described;  and  the  change,  though  gradual,  has  not 
been  slow:  already  do  our  daughters  listen  with  sur- 
prise, when  we  tell  them  of  the  republican  simplicity  of 
our  mothers.  But  our  manners  are  not  as  yet  so  al- 
tered, but  that,  throughout  our  country,  they  are  still 
marked  with  republican  virtues. 

The  inquiry,  to  which  these  remarks  have  conducted 
us  is  this — What  is  offered  by  the  plan  of  female  educa- 
tion, here  proposed,  which  may  teach,  or  preserve, 
among  females  of  wealthy  families,  that  purity  of  man- 
ners, which  is  allowed,  to  be  so  essential  to  national 
prosperity,  and  so  necessary,  to  the  existence  of  a  re- 
publican government. 

1.  Females,  by  having  their  understandings  culti- 
vated, their  reasoning  powers  developed  and  strength- 
ened, may  be  expected  to  act  m.ore  from  the  dictates  of 
reason,  and  less  from  those  of  fashion  and  caprice. 

2.  With  minds  thus  strengthened  they  would  be 
taught  systems  of  morality,  enforced  by  the  sanctions 
of  religion ;  and  they  might  be  expected  to  acquire  just- 
er  and  more  enlarged  views  of  their  duty,  and  stronger 
and  higher  motives  to  its  performance. 

3.  This  plan  of  education,  offers  all  that  can  be  done 
to  preserve  female  youth  from  a  contempt  of  useful  la- 
bour. The  pupils  would  become  accustomed  to  it,  in 
conjunction  with  the  high  objects  of  literature,  and  the 
elegant  pursuits  of  the  fine  arts ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 


that  both  from  habit  and  association,  they  might  in  fu- 
ture life,  regard  it  as  respectable. 

To  this  it  may  be  added,  that  if  housewifery  could  be 
raised  to  a  regular  art,  and  taught  upon  philosophical 
principles,  it  would  become  a  higher  and  more  interest- 
ing occupation ;  and  ladies  of  fortune,  like  wealthy  agri- 
culturalists, might  find,  that  to  regulate  their  business, 
was  an  agreeable  employment. 

4.  The  pupils  might  be  expected  to  acquire  a  taste 
for  moral  and  intellectual  pleasures,  which  would  buoy 
them  above  a  passion  for  show  and  parade,  and  which 
would  make  them  seek  to  gratify  the  natural  love  of 
superiority,  by  endeavouring  to  excel  others  in  intrin- 
sic merit,  rather  than  in  the  extrinsic  frivolities  of  dress, 
furniture,  and  equipage. 

5.  By  being  enlightened  in  moral  philosophy,  and  in 
that,  which  teaches  the  operations  of  the  mind,  females 
would  be  enabled  to  perceive  the  nature  and  extent,  of 
that  influence,  which  they  possess  over  their  children, 
and  the  obligation,  which  this  lays  them  under,  to  watch 
the  formation  of  their  characters  with  unceasing  vigi- 
lance, to  become  their  instructors,  to  devise  plans  for 
their  improvement,  to  weed  out  the  vices  from  their 
minds,  and  to  implant  and  foster  the  virtues.  And  sure- 
ly, there  is  that  in  the  maternal  bosom,  which,  when  its 
pleadings  shall  be  aided  by  education,  will  overcome 
the  seductions  of  wealth  and  fashion,  and  will  lead  the 
mother,  to  seek  her  happiness  in  communing  with  her 
children,  and  promoting  their  welfare,  rather  than  in  a 
heartless  intercourse,  with  the  votaries  of  pleasure: 
especially,  when  with  an  expanded  mind,  she  extends 
her  views  to  futurity,  and  sees  her  care  to  her  offspring 
rewarded  by  peace  of  conscience,  the  blessings  of.  her 
family,  the  prosperity  of  her  country,  and  finally  with 
everlasting  happiness  to  herself  and  them. 

33 


Thus,  laudable  objects  and  employments,  would  be 
furnished  for  the  great  body  of  females,  who  are  not 
kept  by  poverty  from  excesses.  But  among  these,  as 
among  the  other  sex,  will  be  found  master  spirits,  who 
must  have  pre-eminence,  at  whatever  price  they  ac- 
quire it.  Domestic  life  cannot  hold  these,  because  they 
prefer  to  be  infamous,  rather  than  obscure.  To  leave 
such,  without  any  virtuous  road  to  eminence,  is  unsafe 
to  community;  for  not  unfrequently,  are  the  secret 
springs  of  revolution,  set  in  motion  by  their  intrigues. 
Such  aspiring  minds,  we  will  regulate,  by  education,  we 
will  remove  obstructions  to  the  course  of  literature, 
which  has  heretofore  been  their  only  honorable  way  to 
distinction ;  and  we  offer  them  a  new  object,  worthy  of 
their  ambition ;  to  govern,  and  improve  the  seminaries 
for  their  sex. 

In  calling  on  my  patriotic  countrymen,  to  effect  so 
noble  an  object,  the  consideration  of  national  glory, 
should  not  be  overlooked.  Ages  have  rolled  away; — 
barbarians  have  trodden  the  weaker  sex  beneath  their 
feet; — tyrants  have  robbed  us  of  the  present  light  of 
heaven,  and  fain  would  take  its  future.  Nations,  call- 
ing themselves  polite,  have  made  us  the  fancied  idols 
of  a  ridiculous  worship,  and  we  have  repaid  them  with 
ruin  for  their  folly.  But  where  is  that  wise  and  heroic 
country,  which  has  considered,  that  our  rights  are 
sacred,  though  we  cannot  defend  them?  that  tho'  a 
weaker,  we  are  an  essential  part  of  the  body  politic, 
whose  corruption  or  improvement  must  affect  the 
whole?  and  which,  having  thus  considered,  has  sought 
to  give  us  by  education,  that  rank  in  the  scale  of  being, 
to  which  our  importance  entitles  us?  History  shows 
not  that  country.  It  shows  many,  whose  legislatures 
have  sought  to  improve  their  various  vegetable  produc- 
tions, and  their  breeds  of  useful  brutes ;  but  none,  whose 

34 


public  councils  have  made  it  an  object  of  their  delibera- 
tions, to  improve  the  character  of  their  women.  Yet 
though  history  lifts  not  her  finger  to  such  an  one,  an- 
ticipation does.  She  points  to  a  nation,  which,  having 
thrown  off  the  shackles  of  authority  and  precedent, 
shrinks  not  from  schemes  of  improvement,  because 
other  nations  have  never  attempted  them;  but  which, 
in  its  pride  of  independence,  would  rather  lead  than 
follow,  in  the  march  of  human  improvement :  a  nation, 
wise  and  magnanimous  to  plan,  enterprising  to  under- 
take, and  rich  in  resources  to  execute.  Does  not  every 
American  exult  that  this  country  is  his  own?  And 
who  knows  how  great  and  good  a  race  of  men,  may  yet 
arise  from  the  forming  hand  of  mothers,  enlightened 
by  the  bounty  of  that  beloved  country, — to  defend  her 
liberties, — to  plan  her  future  improvement, — and  to 
raise  her  to  unparalleled  glory? 


35 


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